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God's Work
"God's Work" is the sixth episode of Miami Vice's fourth season. The episode premiered on November 6, 1987. Summary A drug lord's financially-savvy son suddenly returns home, and the underworld is clamoring to find out why. Plot Crockett, Tubbs and Switek are staking out the Cruz family, and Tubbs meets with Francesco Cruz (Francesco Quinn) to discuss dealing electronics (including PC 2's), but the meeting ends abruptly when Cruz' brother Felipe (Esai Morales) appears on Francesco's boat. Felipe broke away from the family business and has made it big as a legit stock broker, and are not sure how to take his sudden return home, as this is perceived as a direct threat to shift the balance of power in the Cruz family. Castillo wants the Cruz family taken down, Felipe or no Felipe, and assigns his team. Gina gets the role of being Felipe's best friend while Crockett and Switek (who gets seasick) surveill in the Scarab. At a family get-together, Maria Cruz (Rosana DeSoto) mentions this is the first time all the Cruz family has been together in a while, and her husband Jorge (Alfonso Arau) is happy for the first time in years, but Francesco is not pleased his brother has returned. Felipe stops by a church in Little Havana run by Father Ernesto Lupe (Daniel Lugo), his uncle, and Gina follows them in, and finds Lupe is running an AIDS hospice inside his church. Tubbs enters the Cruz warehouse and is chased by a man driving a forklift, then Francesco arrives and the man is pushed out of the forklift by a very angry Tubbs, who asks Francesco where his merch is, and if his brother Felipe is calling the shots now. Francesco says he'll deal when he's ready and he and Jorge run the business, and Felipe won't give him a better deal. Crockett, Tubbs and Castillo have lunch and discuss the Cruz situation, Castillo doesn't feel Lupe (despite being Felipe's maternal uncle) is helping the family business, that his AIDS clinic is legit because he's been involved in civil rights cases since the 60's, his type of work turns off potential customers, and he feels Lupe's the reason Cruz' business is slow. Castillo meets Lupe at a outside eatery and Lupe gives him a list of things needed for his hospice, and tells him he is as surprised at Felipe's return as Castillo is. That night, someone kills Ernesto at his home. Homicide found no forced entry, said a neighborhood punk named Ricky Diaz (Jonathan Del Arco) was heading the other way after the killing. Trudy ran all the pictures taken by Gina at the hospice and found one hit, in New York, named Louie Garcia, Cruz' New York chief, and childhood friend of Felipe, meaning possibly Felipe and Louie are involved in taking over the Miami operation using the hospice as cover. Ernesto's funeral includes some AIDS protesters, and Julio says when the killer is caught, tried and punished, then they'll have to deal with the family. Gina sees Felipe and tells him she has a friend that needed help from Ernesto, and Felipe wants Gina to see the hospice, as he wants Ernesto's work to continue despite his death. Father Vater Wajda (Olek Krupa) asks Castillo to not have the Homicide detectives talk to the press to avoid Ernesto's name not be further destroyed by those that hated his work. Gina and Felipe arrive at the hospice to chanting anti-AIDS crowds, and people removing everything from the building, having received an order to vacate the premises in 24 hours. Then the Sister spots the Diaz kid and both Gina and Felipe chase him, catch him, and Gina takes him to OCB. Gina says that Diaz has lots of friends with alibis to match, but before turning him loose Gina tells him the Cruz boys are there to pick him up, then Diaz' attitude changes quickly. When Gina tells Diaz that though his alibi flies with the cops, it won't with Cruz, Diaz said he was only spray painting the building but a person in suit and tie walked in. Castillo, watching the interrogation, has Trudy find Louie Garcia. Castillo is revealed to have a history with Ernesto, in his desk drawer pulling a bible with a picture of Ernesto, Castillo and two other men, with an inscription written by Ernesto, and knows what he needs to do to maintain the hospice after the investigation into Ernesto's death is over. No one can find Garcia, other than a phone conversation between Garcia's and Felipe's fathers that Garcia's son "made it to Miami". Castillo goes to see the owner of the hospice building, the J.P. Moore Management Agency, who is resistant to any reopening of the building for that purpose, citing "community concerns". When Castillo orders a make run on the business, the woman tells Castillo the building was rented to Ernesto through the Cruz family, then the church pulled out of the agreement, forfeiting a large security deposit. Wajda said he urged Ernesto to relocate the hospice in a less conflicted area, but he refused. Castillo threatens to take the issue to the press unless the hospice is reopened. Crockett is in his SCARAB when Switek notices Felipe leaving the Cruz house in a big hurry, Crockett has him notify Castillo while he plans to lead Francesco on a boat chase, which climaxes with Francesco being knocked out of his boat before hitting a sandbar. Felipe arrives to see Louie (who is dying of AIDS and that is the the reason for Felipe's return, as he and Louie were former lovers), he arrives just before Louie dies, comforting him while Castillo watches from the door. Felipe informs Castillo that Louie came to Miami to see Ernesto before he died, and that was the only reason he returned, not to run the family business, and plans to meet with his family to reveal his secret. Meanwhile, the squad concludes that Jorge may have had something to do with Ernesto's killing because of the relationship between Louie and Felipe, and Castillo wants Jorge brought in. But Jorge is OK with Felipe's revelation that he's gay, but Maria and Francesco are not happy, and Jorge admits he killed Ernesto because he was poisoning Felipe's mind and he was the reason Felipe turned out gay (despite the fact that Felipe said he knew he was gay from age 12, and cried himself to sleep each night for his father). Maria takes a gun and begins shooting at Jorge for killing her brother, he is hit once in the shoulder before the Vice squad (who heard all) come in and stop her, then Castillo arrests Jorge for killing Ernesto. Cast *Don Johnson as Metro-Dade Detective James "Sonny" Crockett *Philip Michael Thomas as Metro-Dade Detective Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs *Saundra Santiago as Metro-Dade Detective Gina Calabrese *Michael Talbott as Metro-Dade Detective Stan Switek *Olivia Brown as Metro-Dade Detective Trudy Joplin *Edward James Olmos as Metro-Dade Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo Guest Stars *Alfonso Arau as Jorge Cruz *Rosana DeSoto as Maria Cruz *Olek Krupa as Vater Wadja *Jonathan Del Arco as Ricky Diaz *Francesco Quinn as Francesco Cruz *Daniel Lugo as Father Ernesto Lupe *Esai Morales as Felipe Cruz Co-Starring *Juan Cejas as Louie Garcia *Janet Constable as Homicide Detective *Anne Lynn Kettles as Real Estate Agent *Bhetty Waldron as Sister Katherine "Ripped From The Headlines" *In this episode, the ongoing AIDS epidemic and its consequences are explored, including persecution, fear, and death. Notes *''Miami Vice'' was one of the few 80s shows to cover the AIDS epidemic, it was first reported in 1981 and few TV shows then would touch the controversial subject. *Most of Jan Hammer's soundtrack was previously heard in the scenes of "Definitely Miami" involving Sergio Clemente and his sister Maria Rojas. *It was never stated that Louie was dying of AIDS, but the story and circumstances of Louie and Felipe's relationship implied this was the case. *In the scene with Castillo and Ernesto, Castillo laughed and held an extended conversation in Spanish. It was unusual to see Castillo emote as much as he did, normally being silent and unemotional. *The AIDS epidemic in this episode is presented in the context of a homosexual relationship, though AIDS can be acquired through needle sharing (primarily among drug abusers), heterosexual relationships, and, like in the case of Ryan White and Arthur Ashe, blood transfusions (these are rare now with the extensive testing done on donated blood). Music *"Nine Million Rainy Days" by Jesus & Mary Chain (Ernesto killed at his home) *"Yin and Yang (The Flowerpot Man)" by Love & Rockets (Crockett boat chase with Francesco) *"Modigliani (Lost In Your Eyes)" by Book Of Love (Louie dies) Quotes *"Now you see it, now you don't...because the man from Wall Street takes it (money) to the cleaners and ]]comes out venture capital! -- Crockett about Felipe's potential role in the Cruz business *"To my friend Marty, all of the answers aren't written on the wall, some are right here." -- Ernesto's inscription in Castillo's bible *"Headlines: Archdiocese evicts AIDS patients, simple?" -- Castillo to Wajda *''"Sometimes even a simple cop has to be a soldier in battlefields not of his own choosing." -- ''Castillo to priest about siccing the press on the church if the hospice is not reopened ' Category:Miami Vice Season 4 Episodes